It is known that some motor vehicles are provided with an on-board diagnostic port, generally arranged under the operation panel and the steering wheel, coupled to the connector of an outer vehicle diagnostic electronic instrument which can access, through the diagnostic to various vehicle information/data, such as e.g. error codes stored by the vehicle electronic control system. In this case, the electronic control system receives, stores and processes the vehicle information/data on the basis of the signals generated by the various electronic/electrical control equipment/sensors in the vehicle.
The on-board diagnostic port is made according to the communication standard of OBD vehicle data (i.e. OBD II in the USA, or E-OBD in Europe), standard which, as already known, sets the shape/size of the trapezoidal connector frame, the number and the arrangement of the pins in the connector, and the communication protocols to be used to communicate with the on-board electronic control system through the OBD port pins.
It is also known that the acquisition of: vehicle information/data during the movement of the vehicle, is carried out through recently created portable diagnostic interface modules which are “miniaturized” devices, i.e. having a reduced overall size if compared to the aforesaid traditional vehicle diagnostic electronic means. In this case, the diagnostic interface modules are designed to be coupled to the OBD port so as to remain in the vehicle during its movement, and are configured to acquire/store information/data contained in the on-board electronic control unit and, in case, to send them to a vehicle diagnostic electronic system outside of the vehicle through wireless communication.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a known OBD I diagnostic interface module comprising: an outer casing II, an electronic module III which is arranged inside the casing II to perform the diagnostic functions of acquisition and/or storage and/or communication of the aforesaid vehicle data, and an OBD IV connector adapted to be coupled to a vehicle OBD port (not shown). The OBD IV connector is provided with a plate-like socket V transverse to a longitudinal reference axis W and to sixteen pins VI, which are arranged on the socket V so as to form two parallel rows, each comprising eight parallel pins VI, equidistantly lying on a common plan. The pins VI have a rectilinear pin shape, parallel to the axis W and are coupled to the socket V so as to have a first end projecting from an outer face of the socket V to extend within a trapezoidal collar VII of the OBD connector, and a second end VIII projecting from the opposite inner face IX of the socket V and being electrically coupled to the electronic module III. The electronic module III comprises, in turn, two printed circuit boards X projecting from the inner face VIII of the socket V, which are arranged on two respective parallel lying planes corresponding to the lying planes of the two rows of pins VI. The side of the perimeter edge of each printed circuit board X rests on the inner face IX of the socket V and, on a larger surface, has some superficial plots, electrically soldered to the second projecting portion VIII of the pins VI which happens to be close to the larger surface.
The aforesaid OBD vehicle diagnostic interface module has the technical problem of being particularly cumbersome due to the “longitudinal” arrangement of the printed circuit boards inside the casing. In particular, the arrangement of the printed circuit boards along planes parallel to the longitudinal axis results in an increase of the overall volume of the module inside the car. Therefore, the module is subject to damage due to an accidental collision caused by the driver, and/or to vibration/stress generated by the displacement of the vehicle.
Furthermore, in the aforesaid modules, the mutual arrangement boards-pins makes particularly complex their electrical coupling during the module manufacturing process, with all the consequences that this implies in terms of costs and production capacity. In fact, the board-pins arrangement coplanar to planes parallel to the axis A necessarily requires manual, precise operations by soldering pins to the plots predisposed in boards, said operations being complex and therefore incompatible with the operation times required to sufficiently reduce the module cost.
The document CN 202 454 060 U describes an OBD vehicle diagnostic interface module provided with an outer casing, two printed circuit boards arranged inside the housing, their positions being parallel and facing each other and orthogonal to the module longitudinal reference axis, and a connector adapted to be coupled to a vehicle diagnostic port. The connector is provided with a plate-shaped socket, transverse to the longitudinal reference axis, and with a series of pins projecting from one of the two boards to be inserted in as many through holes formed in the socket. The document CN 202 454 060 U has the technical problem of requiring a specific printed circuit board for supporting and connecting the pins. Obviously, the pins occupy part of the useful space of the board, thereby requiring the use of an additional board for supporting and connecting the electronic components of the module, resulting in an increased volume and manufacturing costs.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,065 describes a vehicle wire connection system comprising a series of adapter modules for an OBD diagnostic connector.